


Akira's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (and Everything After)

by waltzydaltzy



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Minor Character Death, OR IS HE, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, morgana is an actual cat, slowburn ahead because akechi and akira can't fucking talk to save their lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26444881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waltzydaltzy/pseuds/waltzydaltzy
Summary: When the job offer came through from Chaldea, Akira Kurusu accepted because what else could he do? He had already been arrested and accused of assault. Surely, this has to be a step up from prison.Well. Now the world’s ending, and he and this fucking asshole are the only ones left to save it, that’s just fucking fantastic-(Or in other words: A FGO AU featuring Akechi as Mash because why not.)
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira & Sakura Futaba
Comments: 63
Kudos: 59





	1. Prologue (1/4)

_It’s dark_ _._

_This story has been written long before your presence._  
_Its words dance in the stars in the sky and beckon toward the abyss._  
_There’s nothing that can be done._  
_It’s a path toward collision with everything and nothing.|_  
_It’s not something that can be stopped._  
_It is inevitable._  
_It is the end._

_If he reaches his hand out… There’s a butterfly lighting the darkness…. There’s something calming… about its blue light..._

  
_But if you can still hear my voice…_  
_If you still have the will to struggle for a future that does not exist…_  
_Who am I to deny you your chance?_  
_Master, will you rewrite this story as your own?_

  
**“Simulation Ended. Welcome, Candidate No. 50.”**  
He opens his eyes and blinks furiously at the bright lights above him. He’s… lying on the floor? He tries to sit up straight and winces as his spine protests with a sequence of cracks. Every muscle in his body screams. How long was I lying here for? He wonders, craning his head around. The halls are a blue-grey steel, but the light here washes everything out in a sterile white. There’s no windows. Nothing that could explain...

_A blue light…_

He closes his eyes again. _What am I doing,_ he thinks, dropping against the wall again. _It was just part of the simulation-  
_ He shakes his head and tries to straighten out his uniform- flattening nonexistent wrinkles in the white fabric and adjusting crooked sleeves- from where he’s sitting on the ground. He feels like if he tried to stand up right away he would pass out again. He swallows hard and tries to remember what he was doing before he woke up on the floor. _It… was a simulation, right?_ He wonders, _A test to see how I fared trying to command… servants._  
He closes his eyes and flops back against the wall. _Why the fuck was King Arthur a girl,_ he complains to himself. _Why the hell did that sword shoot a laser?!_ He exhales and pushes his hair and glasses up and out of his face so he can just push his palms into his eyes and just pretend nothing exists for a moment. _You’ll be fine,_ he tells himself, pressing a little harder until black spots fill his vision. _You’ll adjust to the freaky lasers and- and the magic, and whatever servants are. You’ll be okay. You have to be-_

“Kid, what are you doing on the floor?” A voice says, and he flinches back, his back slamming against the wall. His hands fly to his sides, and his eyes fly open as he looks around desperately for who was talking. “Whoa, take it easy.”

He takes a moment to exhale- pull it together- “Sorry,” he mumbles, getting to his feet. The voice belongs to a fairly gruff looking man in a pretty official looking uniform, a more complicated version of the one he’s wearing- silver instead of the white he’s wearing, accent panels of green where he has only the black straps- and he has to stop himself from reaching up to mess with his hair. Oh no. _Great first impression_ , he berates himself, bowing deep. “Sorry for not recognizing you right away, Vice Director Sakura, sir.”

“Kid-” He tries to cut in.

“I’m Candidate No. 50, Akira Kurusu,” he says, not looking up. He doesn’t want to see the recognition hit. Doesn’t want to see the polite kindness go away. Akira sticks out his hand to present the tattoos they told him were called command seals. They just appeared when he got here. He guesses they’re important or something. “Please take care of me, sir.” He hears a quiet huff, but he doesn’t lift his head to look.

“What in the hell- Straighten up, kid,” he hears, and Akira tries his hardest not to make eye contact. Sakura sighs, a hand reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know what they told you, but listen up.” A frown pulls at Sakura’s face, and similarly, Akira feels his gut twists itself into knots. “If you make a single misstep, your contract with Chaldea will be terminated, and you’ll go back to jail, understood?” His eyes are heavy and cold, and oh boy, that doesn’t do anything to settle Akira’s nerves at all.  
It’s building up inside of him, and he wants to let it out in a scream. _I didn’t do it! I don’t know what happened!_ bubbles up in his throat, but he bites down on his words and nods. Because…. he did, didn’t he? _That’s what everyone says,_ he thinks, feeling his words churn in his chest. They’re building into something ugly. _That’s what everyone believes._ Something that could beat a man to a pulp.  
_Even me._

“Really,” Sakura sighs, “What were they thinking…?” He shakes his head and sighs again. “Whatever- follow me. I came looking for you because you’re late to the meeting, kid.” Akira shoves the burning lump of rage down further into his chest, and it leaves him with… what? An empty hollow feeling in his chest that does nothing to stop the chill creeping into his heart? He bites his lip and nods. Vice Director Sakura seems pleased enough about that, and he starts trailing down the hall with Akira behind him.  
"You’ve already been through the simulator?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s probably why you were on the floor, huh?” Sakura says, looking behind him. He nods- face slightly flushed, but Sakura only scoffs and turns back to the front. “That’s only the beginning, kid, don’t expect things to get easier from here on out.”

Akira ducks his head again. _I didn’t_ , he thinks to himself, shoving his hands in his pockets. He doesn’t want to seem ungrateful, but his hands ball up into fists anyway, gripping the fabric and twisting. I _didn’t expect things to get any better ever. Just-  
_ _I wish I knew what was happening_ , something small in his head whispers. _I wish I was in control of my own life._ He inhales. Exhales. Inhales-

“Oh, h-” he hears distantly, and maybe something in him recognizes that Sakura paused in the hallway. But his feet keep moving anyways- “Hey, watch out-!”

Something slams into his head, and he stumbles back. _Oh god_ , he has enough time to think to himself as his world shunts sideways-  
Pain blooms all throughout his back, and for a moment, his vision goes fuzzy. Slowly, the ceiling comes back into focus, he hears his glasses scritter across the floor. The fact he can hear Sakura’s tired sigh too is just the cherry to this sundae, and he… kinda just wants to lie here and die from embarrassment.

 _In and out_ , he thinks to himself _, in and out, Kurusu._ He blinks rapidly at the ceiling, willing the tears back into their tear ducts. _God, I’m so tired._

As Akira pushes himself back on his elbows, he hears Sakura go, “Akechi, you alright?”

“Perfectly fine, thank you,” A voice says- smooth as silk and unbothered by what just happened. Wow, he wishes that were him.

His glasses are still close by, thank god, and he reaches to go put them on when there’s a gloved hand stuck in front of his face. He follows the arm up to the face- brown hair, pale skin, a pleasant smile-

Warm, dark red eyes filled with bitterness.

Akira stares.

“Are you okay?” The boy says, concern written all over his face. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking- please, let me help you up.”

...Considering he’s the one here on probation, Akira’s not quite sure how this dude somehow feels more like a murderer than he does. His outstretched hand seems more like a death trap than a friendly offer, and he hesitates. The other boy’s eyes sharpen a bit, and instead, he moves forward to grab Akira’s hand before he can pull back. Akira hides a wince- it feels like he’s stuck his hand in a steel trap. Akira tries to pull back his hand, but the boy’s grip tightens as he helps him up.

“I’m Goro Akechi,” he says with a smile that shows a bit too many teeth for comfort. The pleasant curve of his smile still doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”


	2. Prologue (2/4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's reflection, Akechi being un-fucking-helpful thanks, and embarrassment in front of all of your peers.

_ He’s.... still not really sure what happened that day.  
_ _ One moment, he’s declining an offer to meet up to study with his friends and turning the corner home…  
_ _ And the next, he wakes up to see his knuckles broken up and bleeding all over a body with the sound of sirens around him.  
_ _ He protests- because he doesn’t remember it. He doesn’t know how he ended up there in the first place. But his bleeding knuckles and the bruises on his face that he couldn’t even feel until right then-  
_ _ Well, they land him in jail. _

The moment they- Sakura, Akechi, who had insisted on coming along after he found out they were all going to the same place, and himself- enter the room, Akira plasters himself into the nearest corner of the room and tries not to draw any attention to himself. Sakura just sighs. “Just... stay out of trouble,” he says as he heads to the front. He doesn’t even look back to see Akira nod. He watches him join a brown haired woman who is talking to a bald man in front of a massive spinning globe. They look vaguely familiar- probably from the pictures he was briefed on, but his head is still spinning too much for him to think clearly.

Akira wills himself to ignore the looks, the weird glances from people who are wearing similar uniforms, that he’s getting.

“He’s the one? The transfer?”  
“Tsk, how lucky. Brat doesn’t know the opportunity he’s been handed.”  
“Did he really pummel a guy half to death?”  
“A commoner?! I thought Chaldea had better standards than this…”

He sinks into his chair, and he watches quietly as people start clearing out a circle around him. Akira wants to feel grateful because he… just needs some time to process everything, but it’s… like he’s contagious or something. He shakes his head and sighs. It’s okay if he takes this moment to himself, right? Make the best out of a bad situation... right? ... _ Right _ , he thinks to himself, and his head plops into his arms that are in his lap.

It’s apparently  _ not  _ okay.

“Oh? Are you okay, Kurusu?” A voice says, behind him, and Akira just wants to melt. He blearily looks up and around at Akechi. Akechi plasters on a smile- and  _ again _ it never does anything to ease the sharpness in his eyes. 

_ Can he even smile normally?  _ “...Just fine,” he murmurs. His hand twitches, but he’s fine, he’s dealing with it. He would be dealing with it better if Akechi would just leave-

But somebody can’t take a hint- or maybe he can, and he’s just getting off to Akira’s pain. “Really? You’re looking pale, Kurusu. Perhaps the simulator disagreed with you…?”

“I guess,” Akira says, looking down and off to the side. Against his will, his hand starts fiddling with his bangs again. Akechi’s smile hasn’t changed, but his eyes seem to be delighted.  _ Glad one of us is happy _ , Akira has to force his words back down his throat.  _ Dick. _ Out loud, he says, “Aren’t you busy?”

Akechi’s face pulls in a way that is supposed to be a pleasant smile. To Akira, it looks like a smirk. “Oh, of course,” he says, “But I can always make time to help out the new recruit, can’t I?”

“What’s Akechi doing with the newbie?”  
“Awww, I’ve been trying to get his attention for months- what’s that kid got that I don’t?”  
“Akechi’s on it? Great, maybe that delinquent will learn his place-”

Akira closes his eyes. “Thanks” is the only thing he can get out without trying to rip off his ears. His head feels bad enough already, thanks. “But I don’t want to bother you. You look stressed enough as is.”

There’s silence for a minute.

Akira mentally scrambles for a moment as he cracks open his eyes.  _ Was that too snarky? _ He panics,  _ I just said he looked stressed!? He does!? Why does he look like he’s going to murder me?! _

Because he really did. Not on his face or his smile, but his eyes are molten- with what? Rage? Annoyance? Shock? 

_...Why is that so satisfying? To give someone else a taste of the stress he’s been feeling for weeks? _ Akira shakes his head. “Sorry,” he murmurs, ducking his head and tugging on his bangs again. “I’ll stay out of everyone’s way, promise.”

Akechi hums non-committedly. “I wouldn’t go that far,” he says, “Let the more experienced maguses handle the fighting for now, and just… listen to orders.” There’s a tilt to his mouth. “I’ve heard your prana levels are quite high for a civilian- you’ll probably have more use sitting in the reserves in the end anyways.”

…..He can do... that. Whatever the fuck that means, he guesses.

“Akechi!” A voice calls- the brown haired woman that was talking to Sakura. “Come up here, we’re going to start!”

“Coming!” Akechi calls back, and he bows politely to Akira. His smile is back, but something in his face is different. Akira… can’t really put a finger on it. “It was a pleasure talking to you.” 

_ With that look on your face, I doubt it.  _ Akira adjusts his glasses as he nods back and watches him walk away. He’s intercepted by the bald man who puts a hand on his shoulder and whispers into his ear, and Akira loses track of him as bodies swarm the seats for a place to sit.

“Let us begin the debriefing!” says the brown haired woman. “I’m-”

Her voice is so smooth and even…

“We’re here today-”

His head is... still spinning.

“-and-----our ----Candidate No.03-”

And… he’s so tired.

“-summon--- begins-”

It… wouldn’t be too bad if… he just… let his… eyes shut for a moment… would it…?

**_Hm_ ** _.  
_ _ The voice is all encompassing, and in that single syllable, there’s hate and rage and curiosity- _

**_My, my. Keep your head up, little mortal.  
_ ** _ There’s amusement. Is… it directed to him? Who…. is he? _

**_Ah. Your soul is already wavering. As to be expected, I suppose. It’s no matter. This will only take a moment.  
_ ** _ The void he rests in is soothing and all encompassing- he feels himself sink further in the waves, and the voice cushions him gently. There’s a gentle pressure on the back of his hand, and from there, he feels a warmth spread throughout his body.  _

**_Thou who sneaks in the shadows, hiding from the world that detests you._ **

**_Thou who nurses their anger, waiting for the moment to strike.  
_ ** _ His head rings under the pressure of the voice as it swells with every word. _

**_Thou who wears their mask of patience over a furious core._ **

**_Yes._ **

**_You will do nicely._ **

**_Our contract waits for you, Master_ ** _. _

“You there, Kurusu! Kurusu!”

His eyes fly open as his chair tips backwards. Once again, he hits the floor hard, but this time he’s got an audience. Akechi looks down at him with a disapproving glare and his foot outstretched- but Akira can see the smirk in his eyes. “What happened to listening to orders?” He asks, “Really, falling asleep during the first briefing? Is that just indicative of your criminal record?”

Akira flushes as the mutters around him increase.  _ Fuck _ . He doesn’t even feel any better after that nap. If anything, he feels ever more drained.  _ What the hell was that-? A dream? It’s a blurry mess... _

A finger is waggled in front of his face. “If you can’t be bothered to pay attention,” Akechi says with “pity” in his voice, “Then you might as well go back and skip the first mission. It wouldn’t do any good to let someone unprepared go in.”

“A good idea, Goro,” A voice goes, and the bald man moves into Akira’s field of vision. He’s got a pleasant smile on his face but… Akira sees the same distaste in his eyes that he sees in everyone else’s. If anything, there’s more of it in his. “Sakura,” he says, “Why don’t you take Kurusu to his room? We can deal with his… situation after the mission.”

Sakura sighs as Akira tries to get up and push his chair upright without gaining any more attention. He fails at one of those things. “Alright, alright,” he says, “It’s not like I was gonna be doing anything here anyway…”

“Thank you, Sakura,” he says with a smile on his face, and he claps his hands to regain everyone’s attention. “Please! Would everyone please move to the Coffins! Our mission begins in 45 minutes-!”

A firm hand is placed on his shoulder, and Akira is startled out of listening. Heart sinking, he turns to Sakura's stern face and lets himself be led out of the room without a fight. He avoids Akechi’s “pitying” gaze because he knows he’ll see the smugness behind it. He shoves his hands in his pockets and ignores the people they pass on their way out of the room.  _ Whatever _ , he says to himself, swallowing down his shame,  _ This magic stuff isn’t his problem. _

“ _ You’re lucky, kid” _ _   
_ _ He remembers being told by the cops, by his parents, by his teachers.  
_ _ How lucky he was to be sponsored by such a prestigious organization.  
_ _ It was his ticket out of jail! A clean record! A once in the lifetime opportunity!  
_ _ Nevermind that nobody's ever heard about it until now.  
_ _ Nevermind that he had to move away from everything he’s ever known.  
_ _ Ever cared about.  
_ _ Nevermind it couldn’t get him back his family  
_ _ People’s trust.  
_ _ Nevermind that people look down on him because he wasn’t born into this.  
_ _ Because he’s just some lowly commoner.  
_ __ How fucking lucky he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha...Sorry Akira, Akechi's a bit of a dick.  
> We're taking a bit of time to get to the main bit of things, but honestly, Akira needs to work out at least like 0.5% of his problems before anything big can happen because it's just going downhill from here lol. And Akechi's really, really not helping.  
> "Goro: oh this guy seems three seconds from crying let's see if I can use those up" - Gender_Whomst, pre-reading.
> 
> If you tried clicking on the links last week and they didn't work, I'm just gonna post them here straight up because I have no idea why they weren't working. I've never coded before in my life so this has been a weird experience.  
> https://twitter.com/mintgcf  
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gender_Whomst/profile
> 
> Feel free to shout (not literally i hope) at me at https://twitter.com/waltzydaltzy!  
> Next Update on Sept 27th!


	3. Prologue (3/4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's a gremlin, a cat, and friendship.

“This is your room,” Sakura says to him. He eyes Akira, who feels the weight of his mistakes (it’s been a single day- how did he already mess up this badly-?!) pushing down on him. “Try not to get in the way of anyone during the mission. We’ll go over everything you’ll need to know later.”

Akira swallows the urge to ask questions. He knows he missed the opportunity already, but he feels like he’s drowning under this boatload of knowledge. He nods again.

Sakura sighs and makes a shoo-ing motion. “Go on, kid,” he says, “Don’t get any funny ideas, I’m just down the hall.”

Akira watches him walk off, and with a deep breath, he puts his hand to his door and pushes it open. Maybe he can finally get some actual sleep-

There’s. There’s a girl in his room. On his bed? With a cat?

What?

WhAT???

“Um,” he says.

“AAAHHH-” she starts to scream, and no, that’s  _ it _ .

He practically throws himself into the room, and he lets the door slam shut behind him. Praying to god that his room is at least somewhat soundproof, he makes frantic calming down motions. “Please!!!” He pleads, “Stop screaming!!!!!” He literally just got here- he doesn’t want anymore problems-

“WHY ARE YOU HERE!?” She yells at him, and the cat rolls over lazily.

Great. Good. Fantastic. Makin progress.

“This????” He says, on the verge of losing it, “Is my room???”

Maybe something in his expression gives away how utterly exhausted he is with today. “...They assigned the room to someone?” She says before making a double take and checking her screen, “Wait- You’re the guy that got arrested? Akira Kurusu????”

He deflates. He nods.

She squints at him. She places her laptop on the floor and slides herself under the bed. The laptop is dragged in shortly after. The cat stays.

“Noooo, Mona…” She says weakly, “Mona, come hereeeee.”

The cat, Mona?, meows at her, and it hops off the bed to coil around his ankles instead. It blinks wide blue eyes up at him and mews up at him. At least, something here doesn't hate him, he guesses, and he squats down to pet it. There’s a rumbling purr that starts as he scratches behind its ears, and he can’t help himself from smiling. It’s honestly really cute, with that yellow scarf and white socks.

“...Mona doesn’t like people very often….” His bed says, and he looks up to see a glint of light from the darkness under his bed. “...And I don’t think Morgana has a thing for criminals…”

Um. Does he defend himself? “...I didn’t drug your cat…” He murmurs, and the cat meows at him. He keeps petting it.

“Weirdo. How would you have drugged him? You’ve just met him.” Morgana paws at his knees and crawls into his lap. He’s still purring like a tiny engine. “Hm. You’ve passed the Mona-Mona test,” she declares, and she stays exactly where she is.

“...Um,” he says, “Are you going to leave?” He gets a paw to the face for that, and he makes a face at the cat.

“Boooo! You’re just a level one noob! You can’t tell me what to do!”  
Akira sighs. He didn’t ask for this. “Level one?” he says with no feeling behind it, “What are you then?”

The bed practically radiates smugness. “You’re not at a high enough level for that information!”

Morgana paws at his chest, and Akira goes back to petting the cat. “Can you tell me why you’re in my room at least?” he tries.

The bed is silent. That’s fine, it’s not like he has anywhere to be.

“Riddle me this,” the bed asks finally, “Why aren’t you at the mission room, Kurusu?”

….Okay, he guesses that’s a fair question. “I… got kicked out for falling asleep,” he sighs.

“Lame,” the voice says immediately, “Thought it was gonna be for picking a fight.”

It’s Akira’s turn to squint at the bed. “I’ll get my ass kicked immediately so no,” he says, “Why would I...?”

“...Oh. Oh!” Dragging the laptop out with her, the girl scurries out from under the bed. She adjusts her round frames, and now that she’s out, he can see that she’s not dressed in a uniform like everyone else. There’s a tank top and a shirt thrown on top of that with shorts to match, and it’s so distinctly normal that he has to stare.

She makes a face at him, and he looks to the side. Morgana hops off his lap and goes back to chirp at her. Truly, his loyalty is fickle. “I thought you like got arrested for magic crimes!” She exclaims, “No wonder you’re not an asshole!”

Well… he wasn’t the one to say it.

She squints at him. “Man, you look like a twink, how’d you punch someone half to death with no spells?”

He also wasn’t the one to say that. He also… didn’t consider himself a twink… “Says you. How old are you, twelve?” He’s not about to say he doesn’t remember the whole thing. Akira already knows it seems crazy, he doesn’t need it reaffirmed in his face...

“Fifteen, thanks!” She puffs up dramatically, “And it’s Futaba Isshiki to you! Not Isshiki though, just Futaba.” She picks up the cat and waves one of his paws. “This is Mona, but to you, he’s Morgana, okay!?”  
Akira hums. “Got it,” he says finally, “Akira Kurusu, but you knew that.” She squints at him, and he smiles a little. “Akira’s fine.” 

“Oh-ho! Rank up!” She pushes her glasses up and smirks- Morgana takes the opportunity to run back to his side and meows pitifully up at him. He gives him a scratch, and Morgana shakes his hand off to sit between the two of them. She gives him a conspiratorial smile. “Everyone says this meeting’s big business,” She pulls a face, “But they claim I’m too young to know better even though I helped put half of this together with my mom, so fuck them! We’ll just have to do our own thing, huh?”

He feels his chest warm against his will. The first person who doesn’t treat him like a pile of shit is a random girl who screamed at him and hid under his bed. Who has a weird cat who’s nodding like a proud parent.

He’ll take it.

He nods and smiles. “‘Course,” he says easily, and a bit of inspiration strikes him. “We can farm for exp together.”

She beams at him. “Ding, ding, ding!” She laughs, “You get it!”

Akira laughs with her, and god, it feels like every shake of his chest takes some of the burden off his shoulders. He wonders distantly when was the last time he got to laugh like this was- Shoving that back into the box labeled as ‘if I think about this too long I will cry,’ he changes the subject. “Who’s your mom by the way?” He says, messing with his hair. Her name had sounded vaguely familiar...

Futaba mock-gasps. “Whaat?” She says teasingly, “You don’t know who Wakaba Isshiki is?”

…Oh!

“Head… researcher?” he tries.

“Ding!” She cheers, and even Morgana gives a cheerful meow. “Well, sorta. Mom was the Head Researcher until she got a class upgrade to Director a year ago. She’s suppppper busy now, but I helped Mom put together the rituals for the Rayshift program so everything’s okay! She’s gonna be up there to make sure everything goes okay, and that nobody like loses an arm or anything.”

_ What _ . “...That’s a thing?”

Futaba snorts. “If it wasn’t Mom or me on the job, yea. Rayshifting is serious business, ya know.”

Well now, he’s extra glad he wasn’t just sent off. They probably would have sabotaged the thing to get rid of their biggest pain in the ass huh. What even was it? They mentioned coffins earlier… mmm. “What even is Rayshifting anyways?”

“Oh duh, I forgot you’re a total noob, hold on.” Futaba types away on her laptop, and after a couple seconds, she pushes it to the wall. “It’s easier just to show you.”

Startled, Akira pushes his glasses up from where they’re falling off his face. There’s clear footage of people mingling all about, people getting loaded into pods, and he recognizes that massive globe from the room he was in before. He even recognizes the bald guy hanging out by the globe, and Akechi who’s helping one of the others into a pod. There’s no audio, but the angle is clear enough to see everything. He wonders what kind of money Chaldea is packing to afford cameras like these and be able to pay for a random kid’s way out of jail.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” She cackles, “They can try and keep me out of everything they want, but nothing’s a match for me~!”

He’s… not gonna unpack that right now. Akira points to where he sees the brown haired woman from earlier. “That’s your mom, right?”

“Yep!” Futaba says cheerfully, filled with a childish pride and seeming much younger than the fifteen she had claimed. She points to where her mom is fiddling the controls on the globe. “She’s got to handle SHEBA before everyone can get rayshifted,” she explains.

Or tries to at least. “SHEBA?” Akira asks. For a moment, he feels like he’s back home, trying to get his classmate to explain physics before he tries to throw himself out the window, and it’s… nice.

It’s the one good thing that’s happened to him all day really.

Futaba rolls her eyes, and Akira shares a glance with Morgana. “Ughhh,” she groans, “I’ll explain later! They should be ready soon, just watch-”

There’s a slight shuddering of the screen and-

Everything flashes white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akira with slowly rising optimism: Maybe I won't hate it here. I've made a friend, there's a cat, I can make through this-  
> *everything immediately goes to shit*
> 
> Futaba and Morgana are here! Their interactions with Akira were so fun to write considering this is like the first honest conversation Akira's been able to have since he got here. It's not meant to last; there's a ton of problems ahead for everyone, but this is nice lol.  
> (also this isn't completely related, but really???? Really??????? Proto-Merlin and Sita for only arcade??? Breaking mine and Rama's heart here, DW. Here's hoping they'll do an eventual port, but there's a lot of doubt here)
> 
> Feel free to yell at me about FGO or P5 related stuff at @waltzydaltzy on twitter! Thanks again to @mintgcf and Gender_Whomst for pre-reading this for me!  
> Next Update: Oct 4th! (we're so close to the end of 2020 christ)


	4. Prologue (4/4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akira realizes how fucking stupid he is.

The Alarm Blares Above Them.

Akira stares at Futaba who stares back at him with wide eyes and mouth open. “ **Emergency. Emergency. A fire has broken out in the Central Power Station and the Central Command Room-** ” 

They turn and look back at the screen. It’s almost completely black- there are spots where the lense hasn’t been blackened, but they’re not very helpful because all they can see is fire. “M-mom-” Futaba whispers, and Morgana yowls. Akira’s heart feels like it’s about to burst out of his chest.

“ **Central Area’s containment wall will activate in 90 seconds. All staff must evacuate from Gate 2 at once.** ”

In the split second it takes for Akira to process the look on Futaba’s face, Akira grits his teeth and throws himself toward the door. “Stay there!” Akira shouts as he runs out of the room.

“What?! Hang on-!” He hears Futaba yell, and honestly, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He doesn’t know why he’s sticking his head out for all of these people who couldn’t give less of a shit for him. But-

_ “That’s your mom, right?” _

_ “Yep!” Futaba says cheerfully, filled with a childish pride and seeming much younger than the fifteen she had claimed _

Fuck him.

“Hey, kid!” He turns his head, and he sees Sakura running towards him. “What the hell are you doing?! You have to evacuate-!”

“Sorry-!” He shouts, “Please look after Futaba!”  
“What-!?”

He can feel his heart pounding in his chest, his breath is coming in short, and fuck, he’s never run this fast before in his life-

“ **Containment wall will close in 40 seconds. Those remaining in Central Area, evacuate immediately-** ”

FuCK HIM-

**“Akira!”** he hears, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees the speakers on the walls. She really had control over everything-?!  **“What are you doing?!”**

“You said your mom was in there right?” he pants, rounding the corner of the hallway.

“ **Y-yea** ,” Futaba says as he rounds the corner. “ **But you can’t go in there- there’s** -”

Fire.

The whole room is engulfed in flames. He… knows that he saw it on the monitor. He knew it had to be bad because there was an  _ explosion _ for god’s sake. But… everything is covered in flames, from the floor to the ceiling. There’s rubble falling to pieces in front of his eyes, and the ceiling is groaning under its own weight. But that’s the only sound he can hear, besides the roaring of the flames and the cracking for the walls. The giant globe in the center is dark, and he thinks he can see people fallen over and slumped over burning desks and chairs-

He imagines that this is what hell is.

**“Akira, what are you going to do?! You-your just a level one noob, and everyone, and everyone- mom-”**

Akira grits his teeth and shakes his head. Fog covers the lenses of his glasses, and he throws them off and to the side. He doesn’t have time for this-

“Dr. Isshiki!” He calls out, “DR. ISSHIKI-!”

There’s no response.

He looks behind him, at the still open door. Already in the distance, he can see doors slamming down into place. He knows if he takes another step into this place- if he takes another step into this Hell- he won’t be coming back out in one piece. 

**“Akira-!”**

“KID-!” he hears behind him.

_ For a moment, she seems much younger than the 15 she so proudly claimed. _

FUCK HIM-

He takes a deep breath- possibly his last of clean air- and barrels into the flames.

_ Possibly his last ever _ , he doesn’t let himself think.

T̸̸̷̵̸̩̞̙̲̹͚̮̼͂̐̅̽̎̀h̴̶̴̷̷̸̶̖̖̗̲͎͚̭̻͓͎̼͌͊̿̈́̎̂̎̾o̶̵̸̸̴̫͕̭̥̻̗̔̽́̇́̎̊u̴̸̵̴̷͚̪̩̰͇̐̒̊̽̈́̚ͅģ̸̷̴̸̵̶̩̲͓̟̭̘͋̇̓̏̂͋̋̊̚̚̚͜h̷̴̴̴̵̢̭̪̭͍̤̙͈̟̉̓̋͝͝ ̸̷̴̶̴̧̻̖͙̜̱̤̔͌̊̒͂͂̅t̵̷̴̸̶̷̠̼̖̣̝̲̎̀͗̒̏̈́͆͛̕͜h̷̷̶̷̸̢̛͇̖̳̪̰͐̔̀͋̂õ̷̸̴̶̶̡̝͙̘͈̤͒̎͐̿̚͜͝u̷̸̸̶̴̴̧̨̬͓̰͙̰͛̀͑̉̈̿̍̐̈̊ ̸̴̵̵̷̴̵̡̧̡͍͈̩̙̠̆̓̓̾͛̈́̇͊̌͌̈́̉͜ḅ̸̸̷̴̸̴̧̫̠̫͙͌̾̓̂͘̚͜͝e̷̶̸̴̶̛̩̬͉̘̮̿̏́̍̊̄̇ͅ ̴̶̴̶̶̵̫̩̙̮͍̹̘̟̍̋̽̒̒͌̾̕͠ċ̴̷̴̸̷̶̙̹͍͓͓̣̯̞̣͋̃́̎͑̕̕͜ḩ̵̵̸̶̷̟͍̟͍̯̞͔͂̀͆̐͐͊͑͝a̶̵̶̸̷̷̡̩̳̜̟̫̭͔̿͊̈́̍̊͆͒̍͘͝ͅi̶̶̷̸̶̡̡̛̱̞̱̝̹͛̉̈́̑͊͝n̸̸̵̴̸̸͔̰͎̜̬̗̪͂͊̔̃̆̂̓̕e̶̶̵̷̶̷̡̤̩̞͚̝̖͇̅̇̇̊̎̒̏d̷̶̸̶̶̵̛̝̮̦̠̻̩̻̆̋͒͘͠ ̷̶̴̷̴̸̢̗̣̤͎̹̹̩̹̈͐̌̈̈̂͘͘͝ͅt̸̸̶̸̸̡̰̘͓̤̜͓̏͐͐̉̏̒͝͠o̵̷̷̵̴̵̧̨̧͖̹̲͙̜̼̭̼͒͑̊̀́̒̃͌ ̴̸̵̴̷̴̨̛̬̥̦͓̱̖͙̻͒̉́̈́̀͌̾͜h̶̷̶̷̵̵̖̺̹͚̳̘̯̔͐̇̄̄̓̈̑͛̊̾ę̵̴̵̷̷̴̨̳̻̯̻̭̰̰̎́͊́̎̈̿͑ͅl̵̶̵̶̸̴̷̡̨̦̞̺̻͉͕̭̞͍͚̆̓̈͊͒̇̀͛̆̐̈͝l̷̵̷̸̸͔̮̹̗̠̲̲͍̈͛͂̎̆̉͝͠ ̷̸̸̷̶̴̢̛̻̫̤̫͔̰̓͋͊͗̉̏͛͜ͅȋ̵̶̷̸̸̵̡͈͖̮͇̲̗̐̊͑̐̐͜͝ͅt̶̷̷̸̸̡̡̘̘̟̲͇̯̄̈́̓̓̓͠s̴̴̷̸̵̴͇̜͖̦̣͙̺̜̊̈̈́̃̈́̈́͝͝e̸̸̷̵̴̸̸̘̫̰̖͈̗̫̰̦̠̜͂̉͑̈́̿̇͊̇̊̃l̴̸̷̴̵̷̦͓̰̜̙̜̣͈̉̉̇̊͋̚̚͘ͅf̷̸̶̷̷̶̹̺̰̮̤̜͖͖̯̘̀̓́̈́͂̒̐̓.̶̶̷̶̸̜͈̙̣̙̭͛̾̊͐̽̕͠ͅ.̷̵̴̴̴̸̸̢̝̠͓̲̪̮̟̦̺͙͖͆̏̔̍̂̒͒̕̕͜͝͝

Every breath he takes feels like he’s choking on ash. Every step he takes feels like he is walking through cement. It’s hard to see, it’s hard to hear, in this sea of crackling flame where it feels like no life can exist. But that’s wrong, isn’t it? He’s still here, isn’t he?

“DR. ISSHIKI!” He cries out.

There’s nothing but static now. He wonders if Futaba can still see him through that burnt camera they were using earlier. He hopes she’s still okay.

“DR. ISSHIKI-!”

He stumbles over something, and he catches himself in time. What was it-?

Akira freezes once he sees the hand. Buried under the rubble, the body it’s attached to is unresponsive and unmoving. He swallows hard and keeps going. That’s right. He hasn’t heard a single human voice. Where is everyone? Is he-?

“DR. ISSHIKI!” He calls out, “DR. ISSHIKI!”

Please. All he’s asking for a single sign of life at this point. He wants away from the shadows he can see buried under rubble, unresponsive and unmoving. He wants proof that something can survive here, that he didn’t just dive in here for nothing. He wants to  _ live _ , damnit, but he needs to know-

“DR. ISSHIKI!”

“...why...” he hears a voice- raspy from smoke and ash and lack of air- but it’s familiar.

He whirls and stares because-

“....Akechi?” he whispers, heart in his throat. He’s so glad to see someone else, see someone else alive, but-  
He laughs back- it’s harsh and wet, and Akira is trying so hard not to throw up. Parts of Akechi’s uniform are flaking off, black and burnt- the skin underneath is almost slimy and slick with blood. But the worst part of it is his side because Akira shouldn’t be able to see _through_ him- 

“Who else?” Akechi says back like it’s perfectly normal to see someone with a hole in their stomach lying in a pool of his own blood. He looks like he’s using sheer force of will to piece his sentences together. He coughs- flecks of blood scatter on his lips. “I thought you left…”

“I’m… I’m here now, aren’t I?” Akira gets out as he hurries over. He curses the buckles all over his uniform as he practically rips it off, and he presses it down on Akechi’s stomach. It doesn’t do much. He imagines he feels the blood slowing as his jacket grows damper, grows slick with blood. The white, already dirty from soot and smoke, turns red, and he imagines it sinking into his hands.

If he makes it out of this alive, he imagines that they’ll still be red.

“Leave... you idiot,” Akechi breathes out, “Coming into a death trap like this-”

“Says you-!” Akira shoots back. He’s still scanning the room frantically for any sign of someone that looks like Futaba, but… he can’t just leave him here…

“As… if I had a choice…”

“ **Warning all observation staff. CHALDEAS’ state has changed. Now rewriting SHEBA’s near-future prediction data. Unable to detect the existence of mankind 100 years in the near-future on Earth. Unable to confirm human survivors. Unable to guarantee mankind’s future** -”

Akira grits his teeth and presses down harder. Akechi’s eyes bore into him. He doesn’t quite understand what this all means. It sounds bad, but-

There’s someone in front of him he  _ can _ help-

If that’s all he can do... 

“ **Central Area, sealed. 1500 seconds till internal containment procedure.** ”

“....You idiot,” his voice is no louder than the crackling of the flames around them now. “…You moron, why did you...”

Akira ignores the skip of his heart (he doesn’t want to die, he didn’t want to live like this, but he didn’t want to die, he diDN’TWANT-), and he just presses a little harder on Akechi’s stomach to hear him wheeze. Because if he wheezes, he’s still alive, and Akira’s not alone- “At least,” he says, not bothering to hide the cracking of his voice. They didn’t have long anyway. “At least-” He doesn’t think he’s going to find Dr. Isshiki.

“Shut up.” Akira doesn’t let himself react to how weak Akechi sounds, but something in Akechi’s eyes burn at the sound of his own voice.

When he starts to try and push himself up, Akira grits his teeth. “Stay down-” he starts, reaching for Akechi’s shoulder.

But Akechi bats his hand away and almost falls back down to the ground before Akira catches him. “If I’m going to die,” Akechi snarls, his face twisting. “I’m not going to do it lying down.”

And you know what. He gets that.  
So he shoves an arm behind Akechi and ignores the way Akechi slumps slightly into it. He pretends it’s because he practically shoving his hand into Akechi’s guts to try and slow the bleeding.  
“ **Coffin Vitals: Masters Baseline not reached. Rayshift requirement not met. Searching for qualifying Master… Found. Candidate No. 50, Akira Kurusu reset as Master. Unsummon Program, start. Spiritron Conversion, Start.”**

Something grips Akira’s wrist, just above from where he’s trying to stop Akechi from bleeding out, and the only thing stopping him from wrenching his hand back out of shock is the frankly iron grip that holds it there. Akechi’s not looking at him, but his hand is gripped tightly around Akira’s.

He gets it.

He doesn’t want to die either.

“ **Rayshift starting in 3”  
** **  
****“2”**

**“1”**

**“All procedures clear. First Order, commencing operation.”**

_ Sorry Futaba. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws confetti into the air* FINALLY  
> This is probably setting the theme of short events taking way longer than I thought they were going to take. Fuyuki is already outdoing my chapter expectations, but the prologue really felt like it was longer than what it actually is in game. Probably because I barely remember playing this part of the game lol.  
> This is also not a magic "get along" button for Akira and Goro. No, this is the "welcome to magecraft, it fucking sucks" button for Akira and it's the "welcome to what it feels like to have a mortal injury, it will not be the last" to Goro. Zero problems resolved here.
> 
> Anyways! Thank you for reading! Also thanks to Gender_Whomst and @mintgcf for prereading for me again. Like always, you can find me on twitter @waltzydaltzy.  
> The next update is going to be on Oct 11th if all things go to plan!


	5. Fuyuki (1/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which nobody's on the verge of death! ...Besides the already dead.

**_Wake up, little Master._ **

**_The end of the world is here, and you’re still alive to witness it_ ** **.**

_...What-? _

There’s something wet on his face. It’s cool to the touch.

...He’s not dead?

“Meowr,” he hears, and Akira almost jumps out of his skin when something soft and distinctly not rubble brushes against the back of his cheek. He flinches, shoving himself backwards, before he has the presence of mind to open his eyes and look around.

“....Morgana?” He whispers.

The cat gives him a look.  _ Who else? _ It seems to say.  _ Do you know any other cats? _

_...Still not willing to unpack that... _ Akira decides. “Why are you here?” He whispers, staring at him. Morgana just meows up at him despite the fact Akira quite clearly remembers being alone with A-

Akechi.

Akira looks down at his hands, and they’re red and brown- they’re almost the same color as Akechi’s eyes- And that’s not right because god, all of it’s over his  _ hands _ , up his wrists, and where it flecks onto his forearms, it feels like a second skin. It’s crusted and dried from the heat around him, and when he tries to clench his fists, he can see flakes of it peeling off and falling to the ground. 

_ Breathe _ ,  _ Kurusu,  _ he feels a part of him think, and he slowly exhales. Inhales. Exhales. Morgana stares at him with his blue eyes but doesn’t make a sound as he tries to pull himself together.  _ Okay _ . “Okay,” he says again out loud this time. “I’m… not sure what I expected, but this… wasn’t it.”

Morgana makes a chirping noise.

That’s helpful. “I was in the… the meeting room,” he starts slowly, “I was trying to stop Akechi from bleeding out while looking for Dr. Isshiki. A voice mentioned something about Rayshifting when everything flipped upside down.”

“Meow.”

It’s not helpful. “Are we still in the room?” he wonders, sitting up and looking around. Everything looks vaguely the same as when his world flipped inside out. That red, hellish haze is covering everything. There’s fire everywhere, rubble strewn about, and skeletons-

He freezes. Because yes, there are skeletons walking around. They’re missing their skulls, sure, and they’re more of a grey-ish color than anything he’s associated with bones before- but definitely skeletons walking about. If he squints, he can see a dusty red not quite hiding the glint of something metal and very very sharp in their hands. He swallows hard.

Now that he’s paying more attention, he can see the outlines of buildings in the distance- even further, there’s the outline of a bridge just visible in the haze. Akira goes to wipe at his eyes before he remembers his hands are filthy, and his glasses are gone. “Okay,” he murmurs, “Vision isn’t fucked up, but hallucinations aren’t out of the picture yet.” 

Morgana paws at his pants and meows at him.  _ Stop just standing around _ ! The look on his face seems to say.

_ Then again _ , Akira thinks to himself, watching the skeletons move around out of the corner of his eye,  _ I could be going crazy. _

Morgana meows louder and then takes off.

“Wait-!” Akira hisses, shooting to his feet, but Morgana is already a black and white streak shooting through the flames. Akira hesitates for a second, but it’s a second too long. There’s a clattering sound behind him- no, from the sides- it’s all around him-

He grits his teeth and takes a step back as the skeletons start to close in around him. His throat is dry, and all he can see are the steely gray of the bones- no, they’re claws, claws that could rip right through him if he moved wrong, and even then, there’s the cleavers and swords they drag behind them- everything’s washed in that red haze, and for a moment all Akira can think is  _ this is it, this is all I can do-  _

“ _ MOVE _ , IDIOT-!” A voice roars, and suddenly, the world shudders back into place. All his breath escapes him in a hiss, and he throws himself backwards in time to avoid a swing that would have cleaved him in two. His foot hits dirt, and he throws himself down because  _ FUCK _ -

“YOU PIECES OF  _ SHIT,  _ GET OUT OF MY  _ WAY-! _ ” That voice screams again, and wait, what- isn’t that-?

A sword- it’s a long twisted piece of metal with jagged edges meant only to tear and rip, fuck, does that even count as a sword?!- comes crashing down on the skeleton in front of Akira, and for a second, Akira thinks it’s screaming under the pressure. But no, he realizes, it’s the sound of its ribcage as it bends and snaps under the pressure. Akira swallows hard as he watches bones cave under the overwhelming force, cracking and snapping and shattering. The skeleton staggers to the side, particles floating off of it as it starts to disappear, but a leg comes crashing into its side and sends it flying toward him. Akira flattens himself to the ground and hears clattering behind him. He turns his head and stares at the pile of bones behind him. His savior cackles madly as they watch their enemies fade into dust. For a second, everything’s still. His savior turns to him, and while their eyes are hidden, he can still see their brown hair and the red of their eyes- “Now, we’re even,” they spit out.

Akira pushes himself onto his knees as he pieces his thoughts together. “A-akechi?” Akira says.

Akechi scoffs at him as he spins his sword to rest at his side again. “Who else?” He snaps. He’s dressed strangely now, no sign of the uniform that they had both worn previously. Instead, Akechi’s armored up- a metal pauldron shaped like the head of a crow on his shoulder with a ripped up shoulder-cape attached to it. His hands are covered in wicked-looking clawed gauntlets that match his boots. He wears a mask that converges in the front like a beak, but the edges curve upwards into horns. There are chains on his pants and at his waist, and an armored plate covers his chest- 

Akira looks down at his hands and back at him. There’s nothing covering Akechi’s stomach, but there’s no hole in his stomach anymore- there’s not even a trace of it on Akechi’s stomach- all that’s left of the injury is the blood that covers Akira’s hands. “Done staring?” Akechi says, his eyes shaded by the mask, but his voice is flat and annoyed. “Come on, I’m not going to be the one to drag your useless corpse out of here.”

Something in Akira peaks and swells at the dismissive tone in his voice. It’s the anger he’s been shoving down this whole time, and god, are they just going to ignore what just happened!? There’s fucking walking skeletons around; Akechi has been magically healed with a magical girl transformation; they almost fucking died-! Swallowing hard, Akira tries to shove his anger back down, and he gets to his feet.

Akechi’s face is twisted in a sneer, something a thousand times more honest than any of the smiles he’s gotten before, but something about it just pisses him off- _No,_ Akira tells himself firmly, not looking Akechi in the eyes, _Stop that, that’s what got you into trouble in the first place- that’s why nobody believes_ _you ever-_

“Mrow.” Akira looks down, and Morgana’s back from wherever he disappeared off to. His fur is still immaculately clean, and his blue eyes stare into Akira as he winds around his ankles.  _ It’s okay _ , his face seems to say-

And

His

Grip…

_ Slips _ -

“Says  _ you _ ,” Akira says, his voice flat and even. He’s been told before his eyes were intimidating- cold, steely and serious. That’s why he wears his glasses now, in hopes that it’ll make him seem more friendly. He wonders what Akechi sees in them now, now that he has a fire in his chest and an actual reason to be mad.

Akechi’s face stretches into a smirk.

Morgana bites at Akira’s ankles.

“Shi-!” 

Akechi scoffs- his face falling back into disinterest. “Come on,” he says, “If you move too slowly, I’ll leave you behind.”

Even with that warning though, Akira takes a moment to compose himself.  _ Stop it _ , he thinks to himself again- letting his face go blank, easing the tension he can feel between his eyes one breath at a time.  _ In. Out. _ Morgana rubs his head against the ankle he bit, and he mews up at Akira. “Yea, I get it,” he murmurs, and he takes off after Akechi- almost not noticing the way Akechi looks back at him with a sneer on his face. Almost.

…Akira’s still angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Morgana: aren’t you tired?  
> Akira: fuck u right i should go apeshit  
> Morgana: wait no you moron-
> 
> I don't actually have a lot to say about this chapter- these two just argue like it's nobody's business. I will say the question mark in the chapter title regarding how many total chapters there isn't supposed to be mysterious or anything: I'm just stupid and broke the only promise I made to myself about this fic whoops. This month is promising to be kinda busy so there might be a lull half-way through this arc in regards to the posting schedule. There's also been another thing rattling up in my brain, but that promises to be way shorter than this and also secondary (hopefully).  
> Also I've sabotaged my own progress by starting Genshin Impact.
> 
> Anyways! Thanks for reading, and thanks to Gender_Whomst and @mintgcf for pre-reading this for me. Feel free to yell at me @waltzydaltzy.  
> Next update will be Oct 18th!


	6. Fuyuki (2/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akechi's a dick and Akira regrets a lot.

“Sit down and don’t touch anything,” Akechi orders, and before Akira can say anything, he moves off and starts stabbing the ground.

Akira pokes the rock he’s sitting on with a deadpan look on his face; Morgana curled up next to him. They had moved further away from where Akira had woken up- Akechi had eyed the spots where the skeletons disappeared with distaste and had stalked away, leaving Akira to follow. Roaming the city, Akechi had avoided the bulk of the skeletons they had passed- scoffing and openly sneering at them. He seemed to be looking for something, but it wasn’t until they had reached the river near the bridge that he seemed satisfied. 

Akira, on his part, stayed quiet. Oh, he was angry- this was weeks and weeks of just being looked down upon and frustration that had started boiling over- it was not going away quickly. But he wasn’t  _ stupid _ . There were skeletons everywhere, and his own helplessness isn’t so easily forgotten. But... 

“For fuck’s sake-” Akechi spits out and kicks at the ground. Absolutely nothing happens. “ _ Piece of _ \- Get over here, Kurusu,” He says- he spits out every word like it offends him. 

It pokes Akira out of his thoughts at least. He takes a look at where Akechi’s standing- he notices drawn circles and lines going in and out, and there are strange symbols on the side. Akira gives it a side-eye.  _ He’s about to sacrifice me, isn’t he.  _

Akechi stabs his sword into the center and glares at it. The sword is unmoved. “Well?” He demands, “Are your legs broken? Do you need me to carry you over?”

_ Sit down, you say. Don’t touch anything, you say. Make up your damn mind, please.  _ Akira makes a face, but he gets up anyway. Morgana mews in distaste but settles when Akira gives him a quick pat. “What do you want me to do?”

Akechi scowls at him. “Just put your hand on the sword,” he says, crossing his arms. “It should be able to do the rest.”

Uh. “What’s… it supposed to do exactly?” Akira says, keeping his hands firmly in his pockets and taking a step back. They literally just got out of a hell- he’s not all that interested in getting sent to the real thing. 

He gets a roll of his eyes and scoff for his perfectly reasonable doubt, thanks asshat. “Oh please,” Akechi says, sparing him a wave of his hand. Even behind his mask, the disbelief on his face is clear. “If I was going to kill you, I would have just left you to the Dragon Tooth Warriors.”

Akira can  _ hear  _ the capitals in that.

“...the skeletons?” He tries.

He thinks he can see Akechi’s eye twitch. “...Just put your hand on the fucking sword.”

... _ Well _ , Akira thinks as he begrudgingly removes his hands from his pockets under Akechi’s slightly murderous gaze.  _ Better than getting stabbed or set on fire, I guess.  _ Still, his hand pauses before he grabs it. Did he hesitate out of fear? Was it the sight of his own bloody hands again? Or was it the acknowledgement that if he grabbed this sword, he felt like he could never go back again? Go back to what? Akira takes a deep, steadying breath, and he lets his fingers curl around the handle.

**_You trust too easily, Master._ **

  
  


Immediately, it feels like a burning rod is forcing its way into his nerves- it feels like his hand is being seared onto the handle- it feels like fire roaring through skin. Akira lets out a gasp and crumples to his knees. Something pushes up into his throat, and he feels his throat burn as he tries to keep everything down- but god, there’s so much pain everywhere- Distantly, he’s aware his hand is still attached to that  _ damned _ sword, but his focus is on… god, where does he look, what does he feel because his skin is burning, burning, burning-

His veins are tearing themselves to pieces- they’re prying themselves open, far beyond anything they’ve ever done before, and the air hisses through his teeth as he fights to urge to throw up and fulfill his body’s craving for air- spit flying onto the ground. It feels like they’ve replaced his blood for iron, for lava, for ice- He sees the glow of the ground, sees the glow of his skin- watches it crawl up his arms, and it  _ demands _ something from him, something from his very core, and it’s all he can do is give and give and give and give-

“That’s enough,” a voice says, and cold metal- god, he almost heaves a sob from the temperature difference- pries his fingers off. “It doesn’t need that much damn prana- shIT, you DUMB FUCKING CAT-”

Akira- fuck, god, he still has a name, he still has a body- yanks his hand back and cradles it close. The pain doesn’t immediately disappear; it lingers throughout his body like a bad memory, and the taste of bile is sharp and bitter against his tongue. His body shakes with shivers, but he can’t even tell hot from cold- until a soft body shoves it way next to his chest and shakes gently. It’s warm, and suddenly, it feels like he can breath again. With a gentle, heaving breath, Akira curls up around Morgana- because it can only be Morgana- and takes a minute to just breathe. He takes it all back. That was  _ way  _ worse than being set on fire or stabbed- “What,” he says, each word carefully drawn out because fuck, his tongue feels like lead, “The fuck was that.”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I?” Akechi says from somewhere above him, “Your prana levels are high for a civilian.”

“What the  _ fuck _ does that have to do with  _ this _ .”

“The array needed a power source- and you made quite the convenient battery,” Akechi says, his voice light and smug. He continues, turning to the side to fiddle with something else as Akira watches in disbelief. “I suppose you have  _ some  _ purpose here,” he goes like he’s forgotten the past like two hours, and  _ no, that’s it- _

Somehow, his body gets itself together enough to scramble back onto its feets, and his hands grab onto the stupid scarf cape thing around Akechi’s neck and pull. “What the fuck,” He grits out, every nerve in his body screaming, “Is your problem?!”

Akechi doesn’t move, and Akira grits his teeth. “Just because I’m not a mage,” he says, staring straight into the eyes of that stupid mask. “Just because I don’t know what I’m here for, just because I don’t understand what’s happening doesn’t give you the right to fucking jerk me around like this!”

Cold steel wraps around his wrists, and Akechi squeezes. “Doesn’t it?” His voice, even and cold, just like ice. “You’re nothing, Kurusu,” he hisses, “The moment you stepped into Chaldea, you signed yourself up to be nothing more than a sacrificial lamb. Right here, right now, you’re nothing more than a rat.”

Really?!  _ REALLY?! _ “Is this what you want to play at?!” Akira snarls, “This fucking rat came back and found  _ you _ -”

His grip tightens, and Akira can practically feel his wrist bones grind together. “And you shouldn’t have,” Akechi grits out, “I didn’t need your help-”

“Oh, okay then, Mr. I’ll-bleed-out-through-a-hole-in-my-gut-”

“And who saved your pathetic life, not twenty minutes ago?!”

“And who almost fucking ended it, not three minutes ago?!”

“If you couldn’t handle that, then you weren’t worth saving.”

“Is this really about being fucking worth something?!” Akira shouts, “Can’t you just be a fucking decent human being without a fucking contract slapped on top of it?!”

“Odd stance for a criminal to take-”

“Meowr.”

**_“_ ** **Holy shit! You’re alive- uh,** ” a voice says,  **“Are you okay? Akechi, is this kid giving you trouble?”**

They both turn and look at the side. Morgana licks his paw and washes himself from where he sits next to the sword- which is now giving off a gentle light. It’s the same light that runs along the markings in the ground, and together, they gently pulse. Above the setup is a… is that a hologram?

Akira lets go of Akechi who jerks back his body and dusts himself off like Akira’s got… the plague or something. Akira shoves his hands in his pockets and looks to the side as Akechi steps forward to address Sakura from where he’s displayed.

“No, we’re just… resolving some misunderstandings,” Akechi says- his face placid and pleasant, none of that cold steeliness from earlier. It’s… flat, compared to the emotion that had writhed and contorted on his face when they argued. Nothing about it screams that he was clinging to life earlier or callous enough to fucking strap you to a sword as a battery. 

Despite the fact Akira’s pretty sure he saw the same face earlier back in the control room, he detests it. It’s fake. Plastic. He bites his lip as he moves to stand behind Akechi to stop himself from reacting.  _ What does it say about me _ , Akira wonders,  _ That I prefer the asshole over the nice guy. _

**“Akira!”** He hears, and he tunes back into the conversation to see a shock of orange hair. He heaves a quiet sigh of relief, and he ignores the way Akechi gives him a look.

“Futaba,” he says, reaching down for Morgana who curls up in his arms. “Are you okay? Morgana ended up here-”

**“Morgana’s weird like that,”** she dismisses almost instantly,  **“Did… did Mom make it out with you?”**

...Relief gone. Distantly, he wonders what Futaba would say to him if she realized that he had spent most of his time trying to save Akechi’s life instead of looking for her mom. “...I didn’t find her,” he says instead and tries not to tear himself into knots when he sees Futaba visibly deflate.

**“...Oh..”**

**“Hold on, kid,”** Sakura says to her with an awkward pat on the back- but there’s a look of defeat on his face too.  **“She's a fighter, remember? Might be hanging on in there somewhere.”** Futaba looks away, and Sakura sighs. He turns to face Akira head on and double takes.  **“You look like shit, Kurusu.** ”

...He bets. He should have washed the blood of his hands in the river- but there’s absolutely no saving this tank top… Not to mention all the burns and scratches he got… He tilts his head toward Akechi. “Where’d my uniform jacket go?”

“Sakura,” Akechi says firmly, and wow, okay, ignore him, fuck you too, Akechi. “What’s happening back at Chaldea? The explosion-”

**“About that,** ” Sakura says, his face growing dark.  **“All the camera footage is being retrieved, but it definitely wasn’t a system failure. Or a natural one, at least.”**

“What?!” Akechi asks, the words sharp and pointed, “What do you mean-?”

**“Exactly what it sounds like,”** Sakura says back.  **“We were sabotaged.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akechi: *standing on a satanic circle*  
> Akira: *side eyes* he's gonna sacrifice me isn't he  
> Akechi: .....  
> Akechi's mind: *caramelldansen on repeat*  
> -Mint, proofreading the chapter.
> 
> These two can only communicate through arguments I swear to god.  
> Anyways! October has absolutely thrown me out the window and spit on my corpse. ^^; I'm almost out of buffer chapters so it's getting increasingly likely that I'm gonna have to stop for a week. Hopefully, everything resolves itself this week, and I can get back to writing (and maybe figuring out how to kill that fuckin cube in Genshin).  
> ...how are genshin's rates worse than fgo i just wanna ask-
> 
> Thanks Gender_Whomst and @mintgcf for reading this over for me. I'm on twitter as @waltzydaltzy if you want to find me.  
> Next update is Oct 25th!


	7. Fuyuki (3/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are somehow more arguments and a surprise appearance!

“What?” Akira says. He’s ignored.

“How would we miss that?” Akechi asks, voice rising. “The systems were all clear-”

**“We haven’t cleared out the room yet, but the damage readings we’re getting at the moment all suggest that a bomb was deliberately placed in order to take out SHEBA-”**

**“Sojirooo-”** a wobbly voice floats up.

Sakura’s eyes harden.  **“Most of the Master candidates are being moved to stasis- there’s only 15 members of the staff available currently.”**

There’s a pointed, almost accusing silence that is only broken by the Futaba’s sniffles.  **“Sojiro, I told you-”**

He interrupts her again, a sigh as he waves his hand as if that could break apart the tense atmosphere he had created. Akechi’s hands fold slowly into fists, and Akira swallows. He… really doesn’t know what’s going on, but…. It feels like everyone’s missing something obvious...  **“Look, try not to focus on that right now,”** Sakura adds,  **“I only brought it up because it’s definitely something we’re going to have to deal with, and it means we can’t send any retrieval teams-”**

“Stop. Just stop,” Akechi cuts in, and there’s something incredibly brittle in his voice. It shakes and shivers, and while Sakura has this sympathetic look on his face, Akira takes a step back. “The reason why you’re bringing this up now is because you suspect me of being the one who set the bomb, isn’t it?”

**“Look, that’s not important now-** ”

“It’s all because of  _ him _ , isn’t it?” He snarls, and he takes a step forward. “Even after everything,  _ everything _ , I’ve done for this organization-”

Sakura, to his credit, doesn’t flinch from the cracking of Akechi’s pleasant facade.  **“He’s not a part of this,”** he says firmly. Futaba’s voice is weaker- she’s barely audible now.

“Like  _ hell _ -”

**“You’re not being accused right now,”** he stresses,  **“You’ll have a chance to defend yourself when you come back-”**

“Um.”

The two turn to stare at Akira- one with skepticism in his eyes and the other with barely hidden rage and disdain. Oh. Oh fuck, he was the one to say that-

“Why do you think Akechi did it?” He asks Sakura, shifting Morgana to rest more comfortably in one arm and reaching up toward his face before remembering he didn’t have his glasses. He settles for twisting a strand of hair. “I don’t think-”

**“Kid,”** Sakura says, his voice flat,  **“Stay out of this-”**

“-that he did it,” Akira finishes through gritted teeth. _Why do I care so much?_ _Because it’s right? Because- because..._

“I don’t need you to-” Akechi starts.  
_Because- Fuck it. It doesn’t matter right now._ “Shut _up_ , Akechi. I still think you’re a piece of shit right now,” Akira snaps as Morgana looks up at him and blinks blue eyes. “Sir, with all due respect, I ran in there- stupid idea, I know- and now my hands are covered in his blood because I sat there for god knows how long, trying to make sure he didn’t bleed out from the the hole in his gut-”

**“Just because he got caught up in the attack doesn’t mean anything, kid,”** Sakura says.  **“Look, I get it. You’re confused and lost, but Mages don’t operate on the same level as normal humans so stay out of this for your own good-”**

““What do you mean, stay out of this?” Akira practically spits, and Sakura blinks at him before his expression hardens. Great. Fuck. He’s ruined his image in front of him, not like that’s new. He just wants some  _ fucking answers- “ _ I agreed to work for Chaldea when they made me that offer. I made the decision to run in there to help. I was the one who woke up here, in this literal hellscape, and then he made me participate in a fucking cult ritual, and it felt like someone tried to electrocute and inflate my veins all at once. So. Again, with all due respect, sir,” Akira inhales, tastes the smoke and ash crawling on his tongue. “I realize that I don’t know jackshit, but I’m already as much a part of this as you are.”

There’s only the sound of the river for a moment. Morgana paws at his sleeve and meows.

“You forgot to mention the part where I saved your life,” Akechi says, tilting his head.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “We are not getting into this again,” Akira warns.

**“...Look, I’m sorry that this happened to you,”** Sakura offers, his face looking tired.  **“But kid, this whole thing involves a lot more than what you think it does-”**

**“Wait,** ” a voice pipes up half-heartedly. Futaba’s head pops back into view- her eyes a little puffy at the ends, but god knows, Akira wasn’t the one to judge appearances right now. He can feel Akechi’s eyes on him and does his best to ignore it as he listens carefully.  **“Sojiro, did Akira not get his circuits opened before he got here?”**

**“Futaba-”** He sighs.

**“No! I’ve already told you Akechi couldn’t have done it already!”** She sighs back at him,  **“Cause me and Akira were watching the cameras and everything before the… ya know.”** She wilts again, but she shakes her head furiously when Sakura opens his mouth to argue.  **“Sojiro!”**

**“..Fine,”** Sakura sighs,  **“We’ll talk about this later then-”**

**“Akira!”** Futaba shouts at them.  **“Circuits!”**

“...Are wires?” He tries when it’s clear that she wants an answer from him. Everyone gives him a look, and he glares right back. “I’ve already told you I didn’t know anything,” he says, shoulders slumping a little.

“Then when I talked to you earlier-?” Akechi says, raising an eyebrow.

“What part of ‘I didn’t know anything’ don’t you understand?” Akira says, slumping further. He’s so tired. “I just filed it under ‘magic shit that I’ll learn eventually.’”

Akechi lets a disbelieving noise.

**“That’s weird though…”** Futaba mumbles,  **“How’d you guys get out of the room then? I thought Akechi would have used you to forge a contract with a servant-?”**

“...What servant?” Akira says because  _ wow _ , if he had the ability to summon someone like King Arthur from the simulator he feels like he would have noticed by now. Akechi is looking at the side- his jaw set.

**“Ya know? The Rayshift wouldn’t have worked if it hadn’t attached you to a servant for the transfer?”**

He absolutely would have noticed if there was a whole person attached to him. “No? There’s been nobody?”

**“Then… how did you-?”**

Akechi scowls and crosses his arms. He’s tense, but Akira can’t honestly pin down the reason why. “Isshiki,” he snaps, “I know you’ve had a long day, but you still have eyes, don’t you?”

Everyone’s eyes turn to Akechi. They take in the armor, the cape, the mask-

**“Wait, you’re using** **_that_ ** **sword?!”** Sakura practically shouts.

**“Holy shit, it worked?! You-”** Futaba lunges forward, wide-eyed.

…That was the reason? “Your magical girl transformation was because you turned into a servant?” Akira says aloud, and he freezes when he realizes that yes, he did indeed say it aloud. He clamps his mouth shut immediately, but Futaba chokes a bit while Akechi just gives him the stink eye.

“Yes,” Akechi says through gritted teeth, “And I would like you to  _ stop talking about it now _ -”

**“Hold on!”** Sakura says,  **“You can’t just say that and not explain anything-!”**

“Says who?!” Akechi stalks over to the sword, “We’ll make our own way back, so don’t wait up-”

**“I said, hold on-!”** He yells, standing up to his full height.

Futaba’s already lunging for the screen.  **“Akira! We’ll be back in contact soon!”** She shouts.  **“Akechi, take care of-”**

“That’s  _ enough _ , I don’t need to hear this from you-” Akechi’s hand is on the handle of the sword, and he yanks it out of the ground with a disdainful look. “Come on,” he snarls, walking away “We’re wasting time.”

...Really? Akira gives Morgana a plaintive stare, and Morgana yawns back up at him and jumps out of his arms to pad after Akechi. “Couldn’t you have waited until Futaba explained  _ something _ to me?” Akira says, walking after him. He eyes the sword in Akechi’s hand- best to stay out of stabbing range. “I still don’t understand what circuits are, what happened to you-”

“That’s none of your business,” Akechi interrupts, shooting him a glare.

“Clearly, it is!” Akira snaps back, “Aren’t Servants-”

“What they are doesn’t matter to you,” he snarls, whirling around to jab a finger into Akira’s chest. “Remind me again of exactly what you don’t get because clearly, you’re missing your own goddamn point!”

“My goddamn point is that if you explained something, I wouldn’t be so lost!” Akira shouts, “Why are you a Servant?! Aren’t they dead, famous heroes or something?!”

“I’ll say it again, it’s none of your fucking business-!”

A hissing sound peaks in the air suddenly, and the two of them jump apart-  _ when did he get so close,  _ Akira wonders as he turns to look at the source.

“Morgana?” He wonders as he watches Morgana’s back arc.

“INTERESTING!” A voice booms, and they tense- Akechi moving forward with his sword raised, and Akira stepping back, eyes frantically searching for where that voice came from- “A MASTER WITH A CONTRACT? I THOUGHT WE HAD EXHAUSTED THE SOURCE.”

“Caroline, you’ve startled them,” a voice admonishes them. Akira swallows- there’s a hint of blue out of the corner of his eye, but when he whirls to try and follow it, it’s gone. “We won’t be able to observe them naturally now.”

“Who’s there!?” Akechi snarls, his grip on his sword tightening. “Show yourself!”

“HOW FOOLISH OF YOU TO ASSUME THAT YOUR ENEMY WOULD RESPOND TO SUCH A PATHETIC TAUNT! HOWEVER, OUR MASTER HAS ORDERED US TO PROTECT HUMANITY.”

“We are on your left,” the other voice says from right next to Akira, and he physically throws himself to the side as Akechi whirls to see them.

...It’s two little girls. They’re dressed in blue uniforms- blacks shorts and ties, with little gold accents strewn about. They seemed a little unusual, with white hair and gold eyes- an eyepatch covering each opposing eye. One had their hair up in buns, and the other in a neat braid. But honestly? Akira didn’t notice any of that. All Akira noticed was the big fuck-off scythe in the one with buns’ hands and the way she was holding it over her shoulder like it was nothing. He hadn’t even noticed anyone move next to him.

Akira swallows hard and doesn’t say a word.

“How disappointing,” the girl with the braid says, “A Servant that would leave his master exposed like this is really no Servant at all.” She holds out her hand, and with a flash of particles, a clipboard appears. She flips through it. “Perhaps you aren’t what we’re looking for, Inmate.”

_ Inmate? _ Akira wonders- Akechi is frozen; his eyes narrowing at the girl’s words, but he doesn’t move besides holding his sword a little tighter.

“WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS, JUSTINE,” The other one practically shouts-  _ that makes her Caroline, right?  _ The part of Akira that’s not turning to ice notes- “THE OTHERS HAVE ALL FAILED THE QUALIFICATIONS.”

Justine sighs, and she lets the pages of the clipboard fall. “I suppose we will have to administer the test anyways. Do try not to disappoint.”

“MOVE QUICK, INMATE,” Caroline smirks, and-

Something rams into his side, and he’s not prepared at all- falling face first into the dirt with a clang! coming from somewhere above him.

“Don’t ignore me!” He hears Akechi snarl, and he pushes himself up onto an elbow to look up-

His mouth is dry.

Akechi is straining, his ragged blade caught on the massive blade of Caroline’s scythe where he was standing. It looks like she’s barely putting any effort into it though.

“PATHETIC,” She sighs, “THIS TEST WILL END QUICKLY THEN.”

_ What?! _

“What?!” Akechi says, and then-

He hears the sound of rustling pages beside him, and Akira turns to his side, craning his head to see what’s happening-

His blood freezes when he says a cold, gold eye staring down at him.

“Truly, a disappointment,” Justine says, sparks gather at her fingertips. “Megido.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gender_Whomst anytime anything mildly inconveniences Akechi: Haha get fucked-
> 
> Caroline and Justine are here! I'm very happy this means we might actually get an explanation through to Akira because Akechi is evasive as hell lol.   
> Akechi: i have issues im not willing to talk to about  
> Akira: wait what about literally everything-  
> Akechi: *pulls plug* get fucked  
> Caroline and Justine immediately after: don't mind if we do
> 
> Also Genshin has actually been such a horrible time sink- i want caster shuten but farming is the bane of my existence argh-
> 
> As always, thanks to Gender_Whomst and @mintgcf for reading over this for me. Find me on twitter @waltzydaltzy.  
> Next Chapter is uhhhhh Nov 1st!  
> Happy Early Halloween for those enjoy the holiday lol. Happy "we're almost done with 2020" to everyone else!


	8. Fuyuki (4/?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is combat

Akira’s arms fly to cover his face- his back slamming back into the ground as he frantically rolls to the side. He can feel a pressure build around him, and his ears pop as everything-

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE-!” He hears, and suddenly there’s a boot practically  _ in _ his side-

Wind rushes through his hair-

He crashes into a pile of nearby rubble before he falls back to the ground. Akira groans as rocks and dirt rain down on him- there’s an aching pain in his back and side now-

But there’s a yell as white flashes in the distance, and Akira scrambles onto his hands and knees and looks frantically around-

His breath catches in his throat.

Because Akechi’s _there_. He’s there half-crumpled in a crater that wasn’t there before; his head up, eyes defiant. And even as Akira watches, Akechi drags himself to his feet in time to block another blow from Caroline. “GOOD!” He can hear her shout, “AS A SERVANT SHOULD! PROTECT YOUR MASTER-!”  
“WHY DON’T YOU,” Akechi grits out, “EVER SHUT UP?!” He forces her off, but he staggers on his next step. Every line in his body screams that he can still keep fighting, but the way his hand shakes betrays him. His eyes are trained on Caroline as she leaps forward again, and his blade catches her scythe- together, they twist and twirl, coming back in and out, sparks falling, a snarled voice and cackling laughter-

His ears pop again- and Akira whirls and stares at Justine, her hand held out again at Akechi. Akechi hasn’t noticed yet- he’s exhausted, Akechi’s already taken a hit for Akira- if… if he goes down again, will he get back up?

Akira is almost certain of the answer.   
  


_...a future…. In… grasp…. _

_ A…. phantasm…. Lost…. Loose pages…. please-! _

...is that? A voice? _   
  
_

“HEY!” rips out of his throat; his body moving without his consent. “OVER HERE!”  
Hurrah! It works! Justine turns her one uncovered eye toward him and narrows it. Her focus is no longer on the duel between Akechi and Caroline.

Fuck! It worked! Akira swallows hard, suddenly aware of the screaming pain in his side where Akechi had launched him, and his body aches from the damn sword thing from earlier. There’s not a lot he can do- 

But… he can’t just stand back and do  _ nothing _ -

Her hand raises- sparks gather at her fingertips, and Akira grits his teeth because fuck, he’s not going to make it- pages flutter, glowing with power-

“MROW-!”

Morgana launches himself onto Justine’s face, and the sparks on her hand flicker out as she scrambles backwards. “What-?!” She says bewildered, “M-”

That’s all he needs. Akira throws himself forward, and he slams his shoulder into her chest and lets his momentum carry them both to the ground. There’s echoing words in his head, and fuck, shot in the dark here, but- Frantically, his hand shoots out, searching because it had to have been knocked out,  _ come on _ -

His hand crushes pages underneath his fingers, and he pushes himself off to the side, clutching the clipboard to his chest as he gets to his feet. Justine is only half a moment behind-

“AKECHI!” Tears out of his throat, and he can see a surprised glint of red in between clashing blades.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Akechi roars back- his next swing is extra vicious; forcing Caroline back a little further. “YOU MORON, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE SIDELINES-!”

The hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. “JUST HURRY UP!” Akira yells, practically dives to the ground and rolling- barely missing a kick that would have taken his head off. He gets to his feet- hears another chaotic yowl from Morgana- takes off toward Akechi. Sparing a glance back, Akechi kicks off- 

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING-?” Caroline is right behind Akechi-

“Caroline-!” A voice calls out behind Akira-

Akira throws the clipboard up in the air and lunges forward- hitting the ground and rolling with the impact. A gauntleted hand snatches it and hurls it at the ground, and a flash of steel-

The twins freeze where they’re standing.

Akechi smiles- filled with teeth and sharp edges- from where he stands; his sword pointed at the clipboard.

Akira wheezes where Akechi’s foot digs into his back.

“Not so eager to play attack dog now, hm?” Akechi purrs, “Must mean this is something important to you both~”

“Caroline-” Justine starts.

“I KNOW, JUSTINE,” Caroline finishes. She spins her scythe- Akechi’s foot digs further into Akira’s back as they both tense for round two; Akechi’s sword twitches closer to the clipboard- but the scythe sheds particles of light until it’s just…. A baton?

Akira’s head hurts.

“I suppose you have passed our examination,” Justine says as she crosses over to Caroline’s side. “If only barely.”

“What?” Akira manages.

“A  _ test _ -?” Akechi says, something dangerous behind his throat.

“CORRECT,” Caroline says, tapping her foot impatiently against the ground. “THE UNWORTHY ARE NOT PERMITTED TO SEE MASTER AFTER ALL.”

“As you can tell,” Justine gestures to the burning city, “There were a great deal of unworthy.”

“So  _ you’re _ the ones who-” Akira starts, his chest raising off the ground before Akechi forces him to lay flat again.

“Shut up,” he hisses, and he turns back to them. His voice is carefully even. “Your Master won the war then?”

“Incorrect.”

“What-?”

“THIS WORLD IS AN ABNORMALITY,” Caroline says instead, “YOU HAVE COME TO FIX IT- THEREFORE, YOU WILL HAVE TO SEE MASTER.”

Akechi’s foot eases its pressure. “You know,” he says flatly.

“Of course,” Justine pulls at the brim of her hat, “An Avenger class servant is not so easily summoned, after all.” She tilts her head. “Even more so in your case.”

There’s a sharp hissing sound above him. Akira lifts his head up to give his full attention; with annoyance, he notes Akechi shoving his foot further into his back, but he ignores it. 

Caroline notices. “TSK,” She says, crossing her arms, “THE INMATE IS LACKING- UNABLE TO ACT AS A PROPER MASTER-”

“-he lacks the knowledge, Caroline,” Justine tilts her head toward her sister. “His rehabilitation has just begun.”

“THAT ONLY MAKES THIS MORE IMPORTANT!”

The hissing sound cuts off abruptly. “Berserkers,” he realizes, and his face twitches into a frown, “Of course, it would be-”

_ Berserkers?  _ Akira wonders,  _ Aren’t they… the crazy ones? But these two sound normal- _

Akechi twitches and looks down at him.

“If you both would follow us,” Justine interrupts, “We will lead you to the source of the abnormality.”

“And straight into a trap?” There’s no attempt to hide the disdain in Akechi’s voice. “Fuck off.”

“OUR MASTER WISHES TO SEE THIS RESOLVED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE,” Caroline snaps, tapping her foot on the ground. “YOU SHOULD FEEL HONORED THAT HE WOULD TRUST OUTSIDERS WITH SUCH A TASK.”

“If it would sate your nerves,” Justine offers, “You can keep hold of our Noble Phantasm as we journey.”

“Your-” Akechi realizes, and his sword hand twitches.

There’s a moment of tense silence.

“Okay.”

“What-?!” Akechi says, his head snapping down to stare at him.

Akira stares up at him nonplussed. “What yourself-?” He says back, “Look, I’m only understanding like chunks of this conversation-”  
“Which is why you should have stayed out of it-!”

“-And  _ I’ve  _ already told you,” Akira grits out, “I’m  _ already _ a part of this- you don’t get to tell me to fuck off, especially not after kicking me halfway across the field like a fuckin football ball.”

“That was to save  _ your  _ sorry life-”

“It  _ fucking  _ hurt, that’s what-”

“You don’t even understand what you’ve signed up for,” Akechi hisses.  
“ _Anything_ is better than jail,” Akira says back, and he tries to shove himself up to no avail. _Why is he so strong?_ _Is it the servant thing-!?_

“INMATE!” Caroline calls out, and they both turn back to face the twins. Caroline’s tapping has only increased in frequency. “WE HAVE A SCHEDULE TO KEEP.”

“You can continue arguing on the way,” Justine concedes, “But we really must be going.”

And together, they march off in perfect synch.

Akechi scoffs, and he kicks Akira on his side- kicking up the clipboard into his other arm with the same motion. “Lead the way,” he mockingly bows as Akira gets to his feet. They scowl at each other.

“INMATE!” Caroline calls again.

“Why are you so mad about this?” Akira says as he follows the twins through the rubble. In the corner of his eye, he sees a streak of black and yellow leap from the rubble and reaches down to pick up Morgana. He climbs up to sit on Akira’s shoulder. “You can do your own thing if you’re really that mad-”

Red eyes sharpen, and Akechi grits his teeth-

“Do you not know?” Justine’s voice says, and they both almost jump out of their skin- Morgana digging his claws into Akira’s shoulder to stay in place. She blinks her one eye up at her, and Akira gets the impression they were left off easy earlier. He swallows hard, and he tries to keep an eye peeled for Caroline who has disappeared. He can see Akechi doing the same.

“Not know what?” Akira says.

“He is your servant,” Justine tilts her head, “How did you not know? You forged a contract together did you not?”

Akira blue-screens. “I did what?” he repeats.

Akechi scowls and looks away.

“YOU FORGED A CONTRACT!” Caroline says from the other side, and Akira flinches. “INMATE, YOU CALLED FOR HELP AND SOMEBODY RESPONDED. YOUR COMMAND SEALS ARE PROOF OF THAT!”

“What?” he says again, “I thought these were just proof of being a master?”

“They are,” Justine confirms, “However, they are more than just that. They are incredible reservoirs of prana- capable of granting servants the ability to do the impossible.”

Akira stares at his hands- they’re slightly obscured by the blood, but he can still make out their shape. Three licks of flame, ornately drawn.

It’s strange to think that they have so much power.

“IT’S STRANGE THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW THIS,” Caroline says, staring at them and Akira tries to be subtle in the way he shoves his hands in his pockets. She turns to stare at him instead. “ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE PROBLEMS YOU’VE BEEN HAVING WITH YOUR SERVANT.”

Akechi stiffens. “Kurusu-”

“What do you mean?” Akira asks, raising an eyebrow, “What could these do? If they’re just buffs-”

“Their primary function is in their name,” Justine clarifies, “They are Command Seals, three unbreakable orders that a Servant must follow.”

“ _ Kurusu-” _

“What-? How-?”

Suddenly, Morgana yowls as Akira’s yanked backwards by his tank, and Akira struggles for a second out of reflex-

His back crashes into a pile of rubble, and there’s an arm and clipboard at his throat. Akira swallows as he stares into unhinged red eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the twins watch from a distance- Justine shaking her head while Caroline throws her head back in frustration. He can see Morgana clawing at Akechi’s ankles, yowling furiously. But most of his attention is on the clawed hand Akechi has pressed against his throat.

“Don’t you  _ dare _ ,” he snarls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aki: haha i have no self preservation  
> Akechi: I'VE NOTICED
> 
> wooo I actually have no idea what time I'm posting this at- Daylight Savings is weird.  
> I do actually have to apologize. I'm out of prewritten chapters, so I'm skipping a week. I'm almost caught up with all my projects for class (with no help from Genshin augh) so I'm going to spend probably this week and the next trying to finish out the arc along with my other stuff. Thank you for your understanding!
> 
> Thanks to Gender_Whomst and @mintgcf for proofreading. Feel free to yell at me @waltzydaltzy on twitter  
> Next Update (hopefully) on Nov 15th1!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for giving this a go  
> This is an AU based of the mobile game, Fate Grand Order, and while I'm using the base structure of the game for this, there are lot of changes to make this more Persona friendly, so even if you haven't played fgo, I'll be explaining alot of this for you and Akira. For those who have played it, hahahahahahahahahahaha-  
> Trying to be consistent with my upload schedule, so once I have an arc finished, I'll post it chapter by chapter weekly. So Chapter 2 will be on Sept. 20th!
> 
> Also! My friends, mintgcf (twitter) and Gender_Whomst (ao3), have patiently sat through me panicking through writing this and when I first went "hahaha what if akechi was mash... jk... unless?" so check them out! They're great people. They probably read through this like three times because I kept fiddling with it. Bless them.  
> My own twitter is waltzydaltzy, but I'm not super active ^^;


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